The 1921 Women's Olympiad and was the first international

women's sports Women and girls have participated in sports, physical fitness, and exercise throughout history. However, the extent of their involvement has varied depending on factors such as country, time, geographical location, and level of economic develo ...

event, a 5-day

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

organised by Alice Milliat and held on 24–31 March 1921 in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

at the International Sporting Club of Monaco. The tournament was formally called 1er Meeting International d'Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques. It was the first of three Women's Olympiads or "Monte Carlo Games" held annually at the venue, and the forerunner of the quadrennial

Women's World Games The Women's World Games were the first international women's sports events in track and field. The games were held four times between 1922 and 1934. They were established by Alice Milliat and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale ...

, organised in 1922–34 by the International Women's Sports Federation founded by Milliat later in 1921.

Events

The games were organized by Alice Milliat and Camille Blanc, director of the "International Sporting Club de Monaco" as a response to the IOC decision not to include women's events in the 1924 Olympic Games. The games were attended by 100 participants from 5 nations: France, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Norway (mentioned by several sources, however no Norwegian athletes appear in the result lists). The English team was a collection of 21 athletes who attended the Woolwich and Regent Street Polytechnics in London. They set out on 21 March 2021. They were to compete in ten events and they won eight and came second in another. The athletes competed in ten events: running ( 60 metres, 250 metres, 800 metres, 4 x 75 metres relay, 4 x 175 metres relay and hurdling 65 metres),

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

standing long jump The standing long jump, also known as the standing broad jump, is an athletics event. It was an Olympic event until 1912. It is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, which also include the standing high jump an ...

(exhibition only),

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

and

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

. The tournament also held exhibition events in basketball, gymnastics, pushball and

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

. The tournament was held at the "Tir aux Pigeons" in the gardens of the

Monte Carlo Casino The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Casino de Monte-Carlo ...

Results

All gold medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom. Medalists: The basketball tournament was won by Team Great Britain after a win in the final against Team France with 8–7. A special commemorative medal was issued for the participants. * Each athlete in the shot put and javelin throw events threw using their right hand, then their left. Their final mark was the total of the best mark with their right-handed throw and the best mark with their left-handed throw.

Legacy

The tournament was a great success and an important step for

Women's sports Women and girls have participated in sports, physical fitness, and exercise throughout history. However, the extent of their involvement has varied depending on factors such as country, time, geographical location, and level of economic develo ...

. The

1922 Women's Olympiad The 1922 Women's Olympiad ( and ) was the second and 1923 Women's Olympiad were held at the same Monaco venue; the 1922 event is sometimes confused with the 1922 Women's World Games held in Paris. The

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

unveiled a commemorative plaque at the site of the games in 2008.

References

External links

Image program (cover) (Vivremaville.mc)

Image medals (Worldathletics.org)

Mixed pictures 1921 Women's Olympiad (and 1922 Women's Olympiad) (Bibliothèque National de France-BNF)

Pictures 1921 Women's Olympiad (Historiatletismo)

Film from the 1921 Women's Olympiad (BritishPathe
{{Women's World Games Women's World Games International sports competitions hosted by Monaco 1921 in multi-sport events 1921 in sports 1921 in Monaco Multi-sport events in Monaco 1921 in women's sport Women's sport in Monaco 1921 in European sport March 1919 sports events in Europe